SPECIAL City Council Meeting

CITY OF LYNDEN PLANNING DEPARTMENT Heidi Gudde - Planning Director (360) 354 - 5532 CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 4:00 PM February 19,2020 1st Floor Conference Room, City Hall A. Mayor Korthuis called the meeting to order - 3:59pm B. ROLL CALL Council Members: Gary Bode, Kyle Strengholt, Brent Lenssen, Mayor Scott Korthuis, Ron DeValois, Nick Laninga Staff: Mike Martin, Heidi Gudde, Steve Banham Residents / Public / Press also in attendance - no public comment taken C. DISCUSSION ITEMS: Pepin Lite Concepts Presentation of the Pepin Lite Concept given by Planning Director, Heidi Gudde (see attached presentation handout). It outlined the goals for what has been dubbed, Pepin Lite. • Reduction in infrastructure costs • Lifting the moratorium • Focusing on transportation network improvements with ancillary benefits of flood protection and habitat improvement. The presentation began by taking a high-level look at what we know about the Pepin Creek Sub-Area: • The City has identified a potential area of benefit. Has purchase property within the sub-area and downstream. Has placed a moratorium on 85 acres of the sub-area. • The adopted sub-area plan calls for a replacement of the existing arterial network. That is a focus on using Pepin Parkway as the transportation spine of the area rather than Double Ditch Road and Benson Road. 203 19th Street, Lynden, WA 98264 www.lyndenwa.org  • The City also has a number of great amenities in the area that should be kept in mind as planning continues. This included Benson Park, Dickenson Park, and Isom Elementary. • The City has observed, and modeled, the fact that in a flood stage not all water goes south into the Pepin and Fishtrap channels and that if all flood water was directed to the south (the downstream reach) there is an increased risk of property damage due to erosion of the creek banks and flooding of property. Pepin Lite concept strives to anticipate the future growth of the moratorium area and the next logical annexation area by improving roads and constructing creek channel in these areas. This includes moving Pepin creek away from the southern end of Double Ditch Road and improving this area. Building the Main Street bridge over the Pepin channel. These improvements set the stage for developer-built, or fee funded improvements that would create Pepin Parkway and additional portions of the creek channel. Later, improvements to Benson Road can be done using only the ROW that can be dedicated without moving the adjacent ditch. The southern portion of Benson can be improved to the standard of a narrower neighborhood road with frequent stop conditions and / or traffic calming devices added to discourage the use of this street. This reduction in through traffic improves the safety of both the airport runway and the frontage of Isom Elementary. It's likely that intersection improvements at Badger and Benson as well as Double Ditch and Main Street may need to be implemented as the Pepin Parkway route begins to handle the bulk of regional traffic through the area. Beyond the next logical annexation there remains a number of unknowns. The presentation included a couple ideas for the future of this area but noted that questions remain. Questions: Staff fielded a number of questions from Council members including those related to costs, classification of roadways, and financial strategies. Staff anticipates that cost estimates for the steps outlined as "Pepin Lite" will be available at the end of March. D. Meeting Adjourned -4:58pm 203 19th Street, Lynden, WA 98264 www.lyndenwa.org Page 2 of 3 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING / SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Special Council Meeting 4:00 PM February 19,2020 1st Floor Conference Room, City Hall 0><.^ '' ^~ ' ~^ ^--^^- Heidi Gudde, Planning Director )r^M ^ryyL-u^^ Scott Korthuis, Mayor Next CDC Meeting Date: Rescheduled from March 18 to March 26, 2020 203 19th Street, Lynden, WA 98264 www.lyndenwa.org Page 3 of 3